A Glossary of Pay Per Click Terms

The world of pay per click (PPC) search engine marketing uses terms you don't come across in other types of marketing. Understanding pay per click terminology can help you know what you're paying for and what you're getting in the PPC world:

Broad match: A keyword matching method in which an ad is
matched with searches that are similar to the specified
keywords

Exact match: A keyword matching method in which an ad is
matched with searches that include the exact keyword phrase and
nothing else

Pay per Call: Similar to PPC, except that the advertiser
pays when the searcher calls a phone number

Click fraud: Clicks on your ads that were carried out
for fraudulent purposes

Geo-targeting: Targeting ads to particular geographic
regions

Phrase match: A keyword matching method in which an ad
is matched with searches that include the exact keyword phrase,
though with other words before or after

Content placement ad: A PPC ad placed on a content page
rather than on a search-results page; also called a contextual
ad

Impression: An individual placement of an ad on a Web
page

PPA (Pay Per Action): An advertising campaign in which
the advertiser pays when a particular action is completed, such as
a sale or a form being filled in

Conversion rate: The number of people at any point who
carry out a particular action; in particular, who come to your site
and buy from you or provide lead information; a visitor is being
"converted" into a buyer.

Keyword matching: Refers to different methods for
matching keywords associated with your ads, with the search terms
entered by people at the search engines; see also Broad match,
Exact match,Phrase match, and Negative match.

PPC (Pay Per Click): An advertising campaign in which
the advertiser must pay each time someone clicks an ad

CPA: Cost per Acquisition

Landing page: The page the visitor lands on after
clicking an ad

ROI (return on investment): A measure of how much profit
you make for a particular advertising investment

CPM: Cost per thousand ad impressions (the M is
taken from the Roman numeral for 1,000)

Negative match: A form of keyword matching in which ads
are never matched with searches that include the specified negative
keyword

SEM (search engine marketing): Activities designed to
generate business through Web search engines; some people use the
term to refer specifically to PPC activities

CTR (click-through rate): The percentage of people
seeing an ad who click it